Can all cars have tracking done?

Jonny ///M

Jonny ///M

Jonny ///M

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23 Nov 2004
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Just want to know cause all my dad ever has is the wheels balanced yet still gets uneven wear on his tyres.

My brother was wanting it done on his astra that's why i ask.
 
Jonny ///M said:
What does it involve then? I cant think what they can adjust unless it's just a really accurate wheelbalancing exercise.
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I've never done it before.. however I imagine all you have to do is loosen a lock nut on the track rod ends.. and screw the rod in and out to get both front wheels pointing at the same place.
 
Yes. Fairly simple to do!

There is a wealth of other adjustments that can be done, depending on how adjustable your car's geometry is but even if its not adjustable, worn bushes or bent/worn/damaged components can knock it out enough to cause obviously uneven tyre wear.
 
Tracking is simply the steering tie rods... It ensures both front wheels have got the same and correct alignment when facing forwards. The tracking affects the "toe" angle of the wheels. Toe is quite literally where the wheels have a slight inwards or outwards tilt to them. Too much toe angle means the tyre is actually scrubbing even when driving in a straight line.

Abnormal tyre wear can be caused by bad tracking but also by excessive camber.

http://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/Advanced_Setup_Guide#Track

Have a read of this... although it's for a simulation computer game it is right for the real cars too.
 
Well its an old laguna and the only adjustment i can see is the tie rods. I pointed it out to my dad the the bushings on this were worn so it had forward and back play. This would **** the wear up i guess.

I haven't worked on my brothers astra before so i dunno what the area around the hubs look like but he commented on the steering being a bit vague at motorway speed.
 
You free off the track rod end nuts and wind the track rod arm until you have the right amount of toe in/out.

One some cars only one end is adjustable but this isn't particularly common these days.
 
Its a job which can be a bit easier said then done if you dont have much experience, also you will need a set of tracking gauges to do it yourself and they aren't cheap.

Would be easier just to chuck a garage £20 to adjust it for you.
 
nokinidea said:
or £70+vat and have it done properly. :D ;)
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laser is not really any more accurate then the old mirror type, the mirror type is very sensitive and as 99% of the error is the same person using the same spanner to turn the same tie rod's to get them in the same tolerances then the job is done the same except for a customer who thinks they had a better job done becuase of the word 'laser'.
 
Jonny ///M said:
Well its an old laguna and the only adjustment i can see is the tie rods. I pointed it out to my dad the the bushings on this were worn so it had forward and back play. This would **** the wear up i guess.

I haven't worked on my brothers astra before so i dunno what the area around the hubs look like but he commented on the steering being a bit vague at motorway speed.
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if the bushes are worn this will also mess up the tracking.
no point spending money on the tracking if you really need new bushes.
 
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